(Mis)fortune (16 page)

I followed him, not wanting to check the stairs behind me.  I wasn’t ready for any more of an eyeful.

Once we stepped out in the sunlight, I started perspiring and wished we could sit on the porch.  The boys didn’t seem to mind the heat.  Probably because they were still wet from the sprinkler.

“You really didn’t know?” I asked as we walked toward the swing set.  I waved at Liam to let him know everything was okay.

“Nope.  That’s a bit of a shocker.  It will take Nana some time to figure out who Blake is.”

“No!” I spun back toward the house, but Jim caught me before I could take a step.

“No one will do anything without talking to you.  I promise.”

I glanced nervously at the house then back at the boys.  They stood tense, watching me because of my outburst.  I relaxed so Jim would let me go.

“Emmitt’s talking to Nana now.  I can hear some of what they are saying.  We understand what’s at risk.”

Both boys held themselves back from greeting Jim as we neared.  I knew Aden just followed Liam’s lead.  Liam, ever cautious, eyed Jim.  I hated lying to them but didn’t want them to revert into their distrustful selves.

“Don’t use the TV upstairs,” I said to the boys.  “The volume’s broken.  We’ll have to get a new one.”  I turned to Jim.  “Sorry for scaring you.”

He nodded, understanding my lie.

Aden asked Jim to push him on the swing.  My explanation for the noise and Jim and Nana’s disappearance were good enough for him.  I moved to Liam, who still watched Jim closely.

“He runs fast,” Liam stated quietly, meeting my eyes.  Too smart for five.

I nodded in agreement.  “Just remember that if he and Aden challenge you and Emmitt to a race.”

“I’ll ask Nana to be my partner,” he said seriously.  “She runs faster.”

It didn’t take long for Emmitt and Nana to reappear.  Emmitt stayed on the porch while Nana walked toward me.

“We need to know more to understand how best to protect you.”  She spoke in a low tone so that only I could hear.  Well, probably Jim and Emmitt too, but at least the boys remained oblivious.  “Would you mind talking to Emmitt on the porch?”

I agreed and shuffled toward Emmitt, unsure how he’d react to me.  He met me on the bottom step, captured my fingers, and tugged me down to sit next to him.  My stomach summersaulted at the contact, and I eased my hand away, wanting to concentrate.  The churning didn’t completely leave, though, because our shoulders still touched, and I couldn’t bring myself to move further away.

“I apologize for losing control.  It will never happen again.”  He rested his arms loosely on his knees and turned his head to study me.

His spontaneous shifting had surprised me, maybe even freaked me out a little at the time, but it didn’t bother me now.  “Did my secret change anything?”

“Not the way I feel.  But it does change how we need to deal with Blake.  Will you tell me more?  How did he find you?”

“Remember when I told you Richard and my mom married and then things changed?  Blake changed everything.  I don’t know how Richard got involved with him, but one day, Richard brought Blake home.  He spoke smoothly.  Salesman-nice is what my mom called it.  She didn’t like Blake.

“Looking back, I think that’s why she died after Aden was born.  I think Blake knew she would be a problem.  She would have tried to stop what he had planned.  So, he killed her.  With her gone and two little boys to worry about, Blake had Richard on strings, dancing to his commands.  Suddenly, I wasn’t allowed to leave the house anymore.  Disobedience wasn’t tolerated.”  I watched my brothers play.  “I tried to run once.  When they caught me, Blake slapped Liam.  Hard.  His handprint turned into a bruise that covered Liam’s little face from temple to jaw.”

Emmitt growled low in his throat, startling me.  When I glanced at him, he had his eyes closed and jaw clenched.  The skin on his forearm rippled slightly.  I glanced at Nana and Jim unsure what to do.  The boys didn’t need to witness Emmitt shifting, and I didn’t want to get knocked off the porch steps.

Nana didn’t acknowledge us, but she did move to block Liam’s view.  How did she know?

“I promised not to lose control, and I won’t.  However, I can’t help reacting,” he said after a moment.  An underlying growl roughened his voice.  He lifted his head and met my eyes.  I could see his anger.  “We don’t hit children.”

I nodded slowly.  He might not, but Blake sure did.

“So I stayed and obeyed, and Blake had me by the same strings he had Richard.  Every month he brought men to the house.  He called it a business meeting but the men never talked business.  They never said anything.  They just stared at me.

“Then, at the beginning of the summer, Blake became
driven
.”  I paused, looking off at the trees as I remembered my last night there.  “The dinner before I ran, Blake went crazy.  He grabbed me by the throat, and his face started to change.  Not all the way like you did.  Only a little.  His fangs scared me.  While he held me, he told me I would allow all of the men to ‘scent’ me.  He said I would bite and Claim one of them.”

I felt Emmitt shudder beside me and touched his trembling hand in comfort.  When he stilled, I continued.

“I held myself still as they approached me one by one, afraid they would change like Blake had.  After the first one, I closed my eyes.  When they finished, Blake told me to go to my room.

“The next morning Blake called.  He told me that Richard was dead.  I don’t doubt Blake killed him, and I think Richard expected it because that morning there’d been an envelope shoved under my door.  Important documents, cash, and a number for a lawyer were in it.  Richard had written a note telling me to run.  I hit David over the head and ran fast.  I took my mom’s car, not knowing how to drive.  I almost backed into the mailbox.”  I looked up at Emmitt.  “He won’t give up.”

Something in his eyes gave me real hope.  I wanted to believe I wasn’t alone and unprotected in a world filled with strange beings.  I shook just thinking about it.

Emmitt wrapped an arm around me and hugged me close, resting his chin on top my head.  “You don’t have to worry about him anymore.  By exposing our kind to you and using humans like he did, he broke our laws.  He’ll pay for what he did.”

“I don’t understand.  How is what he did different from what you did?  Not that you’ve used us.  I mean, you showed me what you are.”

He lifted his head, tilted it as if listening, then sighed.  “I’ll let Nana answer the questions about the rules and laws tomorrow.  We’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

My gaze flicked to Nana.  With her back to us, she pushed Liam on the swing.  “Was she just talking to you?”

Emmitt didn’t ask whom I meant.  “Yes.  She’s worried about you.  Jim gives you too much to drink last night.  She scolds us this morning.  I prove what werewolves are capable of.  She reveals more about Claiming and Mating than you’re comfortable with.  Then we find out everything we’ve asked you to understand about us is on top of an exposure to our kind that’s left you distrustful and fearful.  And I burst into my fur in front of you.”  He paused, a small, self-depreciating smile playing about his lips.  “It’s a lot to take in before lunch.”

I nodded in agreement.  Yet, now that I told them about Blake, it didn’t feel so bad.

After the silence between us stretched, Emmitt joined the boys in their sprinkler races, leaving me to my thoughts.  One secret down.  How would they deal with my ability, though?  Staying in the shade, I contentedly sat on the porch and watched their antics while I dwelled on my premonitions.

Nana went inside after a while.  I didn’t know how she could stand the heat.

I knew I needed to plan for tomorrow’s premonition, but instead, I watched the ripple of Emmitt’s muscles while he twisted, turned, and jumped through the water.  His chest was wet again from the sprinkler, and he was almost as tan as Jim from his time outside.  I struggled not to drool.  His words echoed in my head.  I was his.  Did that then mean he was mine?  I liked the idea of that.  My stomach tightened.

He turned, caught me watching, and winked.  Given my thoughts, my face flamed.  He frowned, stopped playing, and strode toward me.  I felt my face heat further and looked away, trying to calm down.  My averted gaze didn’t last long.  I couldn’t
not
look at him.

As he approached, his nostrils flared.  His lips curved in a knowing smile.  My stomach went crazy, and my breathing spiked.  With a gleam in his eyes, he leapt onto the porch, bypassing the steps, and stalked me.

“Do you have a phone with a data plan, or a computer with internet?” I asked randomly.

My question brought him up short.  He tilted his head and studied me with a curious look before shaking his head.

Nana stepped out just then with a tray of sandwiches.

“Emmitt, go get the boys.  Michelle, will you fetch a hand towel?”

Glad for the reprieve, I ran inside.  Nana had the boys wipe their hands so their sandwiches didn’t disintegrate when they touched them.

We all ate on the porch, and after Emmitt finished eating, he quietly excused himself.  I watched him walk inside.  When he stepped out again, dressed in shirt and jeans, he said he’d be back later and strode to his bike.  The roar of the engine and a cloud of dust marked his passage and left me wondering where he’d gone.

*    *    *    *

Tired from an afternoon of playing, the boys fell asleep quickly, leaving me with nothing to do.  I jogged back downstairs, returned the books I’d finished, and borrowed another one from Nana.  Back in our apartment, I pulled the office chair onto the dark porch then settled down to read.  Reading wasn’t easy.  I had to angle the book to catch the light from the kitchen.  Still, I relaxed and listened to the night sounds.

Several chapters in, I heard the distant rumble of a familiar engine.  I smiled to myself and stayed sitting in the dim circle of light, waiting.  It didn’t take long for Emmitt to pull into the driveway.  I could taste the dust in the air; we needed rain again.  He slowly pulled into the garage and cut the engine.

His eyes glinted when he stepped from the garage and looked up at me.  I gave a small wave, knowing he would see me.  A few minutes later, I heard his footsteps in the kitchen behind me.

“Nice chair,” he said with a hint of laughter.

I glanced back at him.  “It’s my new office.”

“Then you might need this.”  He lifted a dark object he’d been holding.

Spinning the chair around, I reached for it.  The small sleek tablet caught the light, and I glanced up at Emmitt with a frown.  He’d left to buy me a tablet?

“The guy at the store said you should be able to surf the internet, even out here.”

I accepted the outrageous gift quietly.  The sensibility of having it for tomorrow outweighed the need to protest at the expense.

“Thank you, Emmitt.  I’ll try to pay you back.”  But I doubted the stack of bills left in the envelope was enough to pay for it.  When pulling a bill out here and there to give to Jim or Nana so they could buy us groceries, I never stopped to count what remained.  The thinning pile told me enough.

“Don’t worry about it.  It’s a gift.”

He stepped onto the porch and moved to lean against the wall.  In silence, we watched the stars twinkling over the trees.

“Pretty crazy day,” he commented after a few minutes.

“Makes sitting in my office at night just that much better.”  I didn’t really want to talk about the day.  If I did, it would really hit home how messed up my life was.  I preferred to bumble along in denial for as long as I could.

He pushed away from the wall.  “If you need to talk about anything, I’ll be here.”  Then, he left quietly.

I stared off at the stars until a distant howl reminded me I had work to do.

When the boys stumbled into the kitchen and saw me blurry-eyed, leaning over a piece of paper covered with scribbled notes, they froze.  The tablet had taken some getting used to.  Despite the learning curve, I felt I had enough research on the paper to warrant a plausible explanation of my impending prediction.

Pushing away from the island, I stood with a wilted smile and asked what they wanted for breakfast.  A tap at the door delayed their response.

Emmitt swept open the door without waiting for an answer.  Jim stepped in just enough for my brothers to see him.

“Come on, boys,” Jim waved them to the door.  “Eggs, bacon, potato pancakes and orange juice are waiting.”  Still in their pajamas, the boys ran out the door with Jim close on their heels.  The three of them created a thumping racket on the steps.

Emmitt stood by the door, studying me.  “You didn’t sleep.”  Disapproval laced his words.  His eyes drifted to the tablet and then the piece of paper.

I blinked at him stupidly, my brain replaced with fuzz.  What had he expected when he handed me a cool new toy two hours before midnight?  Of course, I stayed up to play with it.  My eyes followed his to the paper.  And I did some darn good work, too.

His movement interrupted my drifting thoughts.  Two strides brought him across the room.  A twist and lift had me up in his arms before I could squeal.  He marched me to the bedroom, set me gently on the bed, and pulled a sheet up to cover me.

I didn’t fight it much.  Having the bed to myself felt lovely.  I forced a weak protest for appearance’ sake.  “But I have stock information for Nana’s friend.”

“It can wait until you’ve slept a bit.”  He hung a blanket over the blinds to keep out all light.

“But...”

“Sleep, Michelle.  I’ll be listening.” He closed the door.

My lips twitched in the dark.  Plan perfectly executed.

*    *    *    *

The ticker tape woke me.  I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I threw back the sheet and got out of bed.  The still, warm air in the room left me feeling hot and sticky.  Grumbling about stocks and lack of rain, I grabbed a change of clothes and stumbled to the bathroom.

As I showered on autopilot, I focused on the information playing in my mind and struggled to recall the closing rate from my research.  Nothing came to mind.  A seed of doubt sprouted.  I rinsed, shut off the shower, and pulled on clothes while still partially wet.  Why couldn’t I remember?

Hair dripping onto my shirt, I yanked open the bathroom door and flew to the island.  My eyes devoured the notes.  I pulled the paper closer, my brain denying what my eyes saw.

“No, no, no, no, no!” I whispered fiercely.  I’d stayed up all night.  And for what?  Some unknown entity to pop into my head.  What did I need to do to catch a freak’n break?

I crumpled up the paper and threw the ball out the open French doors, watching it sail over the railing.  Grabbing a new sheet, I set to work again, my fingers dancing over the tablet’s smooth glass as I tried to figure out how to prove this new premonition viable.  The scratch of my pencil against the paper kept the ticker in my head company.

Deep in thought, reading an article about the business in question, I noticed the sudden silence in my head.  The ticker had just stopped.  Turned off.  I looked at the paper next to me where I’d started my notes about the business.  In the top corner, I’d written out the premonition like a recommendation.  I knew writing it down wouldn’t turn it off.  It never had before.  But I had no other explanation.  Setting down the pencil, I moved to pick up the paper.

“What are you going?”

Emmitt’s voice ripped a startled yell from me.  Swiveling on the stool, I held a hand to my heart and gave him a wide-eyed look.

“Obviously, four hours of sleep isn’t enough.”  He stood just behind me, reading the paper over my shoulder.  “Why are you doing this?” he asked nodding to the paper.  “And why did this one fly?”  He held up the wrinkled sheet I’d tossed out the window.

“I know investments.  Stocks.  Richard invested.  It’s the only way I can pay you back.”  He arched a brow at the crumpled paper, obviously wondering about it.  “Another thought woke me.  That one wasn’t right,” I said, motioning to the wadded paper he held.

“Back to bed.”  He tilted his head indicating I should get moving.

“I’m not five.  I don’t need to be told to go to bed.”

“Of course you’re not five.  A five-year-old would listen.”

His words hurt a little.  The scowl fell from my face, and I eyed him, wondering about his attitude.  He didn’t appear angry.

He saw something in my expression or scented something related to my emotions because he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, setting his chin on the top of my head.  He didn’t seem to mind my wet hair.  My cheek rested against his chest.

“I’m worried,” he admitted.  “Last night you seemed fine with everything that happened yesterday, but then you didn’t sleep.”  He paused for so long I thought he’d finished talking, but then he asked softly, “Are you planning on leaving?”

Leaving?  Despite everything I’d learned, I still felt safest here.  “No, Emmitt.  I’m not leaving.”  He hugged me close, causing my stomach and heart to go crazy.  I forced myself to keep still.

He cleared his throat and stepped back.

“Since you don’t want more sleep, do you want to come outside?  Jim and I were talking about going into town for a few things.”

“Sure.  Hold on,” I hopped off the stool and went to the room to get some money.  Two more twenties from the diminishing pile.  We needed milk and fresh produce.

He accepted the money with reluctance when I told him what I wanted him to pick up.  Before he left, he promised he and Jim would be back soon.  I went outside to play with Liam and Aden.  At least, I didn’t have to worry about the premonition anymore.

*    *    *    *

They returned well after lunch, pulling a trailer loaded with furniture.  Jim waved to the boys from the passenger window while Emmitt pulled up next to the garage to back the trailer closer to the house. Nana stepped onto the porch and helped direct Emmitt.

Liam and Aden climbed the tower attached to the swing set and watched.  I shaded my eyes and squinted at everything stacked on the trailer and in the bed of the truck.  There was so much.  A sense of anticipation filled me when I thought of living in the new apartment.  It would be our real home.  The permanence of that thought didn’t scare me as it once had.

Emmitt backed up until the gate hung over the steps then parked the truck.  He and Jim hopped out and got to work unloading everything.  No matter what it was, they made it look effortless.  Leather sofa, love seat, recliner, queen bed, bunk beds, dressers. They never appeared winded nor did they need a break.  I stayed with the boys until all the big pieces were inside.  Then, we followed.

I hadn’t been in the apartment since I’d given Emmitt my opinion on the bathroom color.  This time when I stepped into the kitchen from the hallway door, I looked at it with new eyes.

The living room was no longer a big, empty cavern.  The sofa and loveseat helped fill the space, making it look homey.  Someone had positioned both so they faced a widescreen television.  I wondered where the money had come from for all the new furniture.  The boys raced to the back of the apartment.  I watched Nana set the end tables near the sofa.

Feeling pensive, I moved to the boys’ bedroom where I heard Jim and Emmitt talking.  A bedframe, the first of a pair that would stack for bunk beds, lay half-assembled on the floor.  The boys squatted near, eagerly asking to help.  Jim handed them the screws and bolts to hold, and I smiled at their enthusiasm before glancing at the two matching dressers that sentineled one of the room’s windows.  A toy chest sat under the other window, leaving room for the bunk to abut the interior wall.

I watched from the doorway for a moment, wondering if my brothers thought of their room back home.  Large and open with a few toys to entertain their lonely hours locked inside, it had originally been the master suite.  After my mother died, Richard had contractors come to the house to make several changes.  In my grief, I noticed nothing until it was too late.  Bare, white institutional walls had replaced the beautiful decorations and colors my mom had contributed, and discreet locks had adorned the doors.

The room before me looked like a real room for two little boys.  Bittersweet thoughts of how my mom would react to Emmitt’s efforts filled me.

Leaving them to their work, I turned to check out the other room and froze in the doorway.  A queen-sized bed, assembled and made, sat between the two windows that faced the backyard.  A dresser sat against the wall to the right of the bed with a reading chair next to it.  The light from the nearby window made it a perfect spot to curl up with a book.  Beside the bed, the guys had set an end table with a lamp.

Decorated in shades of light brown and blues with green accents, the room reminded me of a day at the lake.  Specifically, the day Emmitt had asked me my favorite color.  My heart swelled a little though I tried to stop it.  I gently touched the light blue quilt patterned with beige stitching.  Why were my feelings toward Emmitt so chaotic?

Gorgeous, kind, and completely focused on me, I found him intense at times.  Knowing he considered me his and witnessing the vision about us left me floundering, wondering where we stood exactly.  If we were normal humans, I’d say we were just in the flirty stage of an almost relationship.  After his “mine” talk, I highly doubted he’d agree.

I heard the brush of a foot on the carpet behind me and turned.  Emmitt stood there.

“You worry too much,” he said softly.

Yeah, I did.  I smiled.  “Thank you for this.”

He nodded and seemed to want to say more, but Liam called him from the other room.  With an amused tilt to his lips, he answered his helper’s call and left me wondering what he hadn’t said.

Eager to give Emmitt his apartment back and to settle in our own, I started moving our few possessions.  With dressers for everyone, I enjoyed putting away our clothes.

“Michelle?” Nana called from the kitchen.

I closed Aden’s dresser drawer and left the boys with instructions to make their beds.  When I walked into the kitchen, I was surprised to see Nana there holding a large box.

“When I went rummaging, I was hoping you’d stay.  So, I picked up more than clothes.”  She set the box on the island, opened it, and showed me a set of pots and pans.  “There’s more in the garage.  Do you want me to bring it all up?”

I smiled and nodded.

After the boys finished their beds, they went to find Emmitt and Jim.  All four left the apartment, suspiciously quiet.  I walked through the rooms, looking for what trouble they might have gotten into.  Through the windows in my room drifted the sound of Aden laughing.  I peeked through the pretty gauze curtains and spotted him playing with Jim outside.

Smiling, I went back to help Nana.  We had a mountain of flatware, glassware, pots, and pans to labor through.  While we worked, she asked about my research the night before and told me more about her friend, Sam, who was her age, mild-mannered, and sounded like a nice grandfatherly sort.  She admitted that she humored him when he called for her input on the market, having no interest in it herself.

I didn’t notice how long we worked until Emmitt returned with two tired boys.  The sun hung low in the sky.  I glanced at the clock and saw it was almost eight.  I hadn’t even thought of feeding them. Emmitt saw my frown and assured me they had already eaten dinner.

“Thank you,” I said to Emmitt.  “Nana, I better get these two to bed.  I can finish the rest on my own.”  She smiled and left with Emmitt.  My stomach chose then to growl, but looking at my brothers’ tired faces, I put off my own dinner to help them get ready for bed.

Liam and Aden excitedly tromped to their bedroom to get their pajamas on and then to the bathroom to brush their teeth.  I thought they might fight going to sleep, especially in a separate room from me, but they didn’t spare that a thought.  Instead, they both tried to claim the top bunk.  I stepped in to settle it before it got heated.  As the oldest, Liam had the top bunk.  Aden pouted until I pointed out the bottom bunk made a better fort by adding a few extra blankets.

I kissed them goodnight, turned off the light, and left the door open.  Even after they lay in bed, they giggled and talked until I reminded them if they didn’t close their eyes soon, they’d end up sleeping in and missing precious outside playtime.  They quickly grew quiet.

I wandered back to the kitchen.  Opening the refrigerator, I looked for something to eat.  The vast empty belly mocked me.  I’d moved our things but not the food.

Closing the refrigerator door, I crept to check on the boys before sneaking across the hall to snag some food.

Emmitt met me at the door.  “Thought I might see you yet tonight.”  He held a fork.  On the end, he’d skewered a bite of grilled chicken.  I grinned and popped it in my mouth.  The temperature caught me off guard, very warm, straight from the grill.  He’d probably timed it.

“I didn’t think you could hear through closed doors.”

“I can if I’m close enough.  Just across the hall from a closed door, I can hear some things.  Like footsteps.”  He winked at me and stood aside so I could enter.  Two plates waited on the island.  “Will you eat with me?”